Target.



J. T. DICKMAN.

TARGET.

APPLIGATION FILED Mus, 1911.

1,003,588. Patented sept. 19,1911.

// Inventor.

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entran srarizsrarnni onirica.

JOHN m. DICKNAN, or Los ANGELES, aannemen. i

TARGET.

1,003,58& Specification ofl-ettersifet- Patented Sept. 19,1911. fApplication ined nay s, 1911. serial No. 625,738.

citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county ofLos Angelesl and State of lalifornia, have invented new andl usefulImprovements in Targets, of which the following is a specification. A

This invention relates to improvements in targets, and has particularrelation to targets which are provided with movable parts adapted to bethrown from one position to another, when a drivenpart of the target hasbeen successfully struck.

It is also the object of the invention to provide a target havingopenings with lights showing therethrough, the shooting of a projectilethrough one of said openings operating to make it appear as though thelight had been put out.

It is a further object of the invention to rovide a 'target' havin eyesbehind which.

ights are adapted to s ine with a mechanism adapted to hide the lightsfirst behind one eye and then behind the other for making it appear asthough the figure of the target has had its eyes put out.

It is also an object of the invention in this connection, to provide themeans for hiding.-

the light so that each light will be successively hid, the' projectileor bullet passing through the eye upon one side shifting the lighthiding mechanism first to one side and then the other.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure1 is afrontelevation 'of a target constructed in accordance with the`present invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken upon the`line 2--2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view taken upon theline 3-3 of Fig. 2 portions of the target being broken away.

Itis the purpose of the invention to provide a target which may have anydesired configuration upon the front thereof, and the invention isespecially adapted for the use of a fac-e of some kind, so that the eyesthereof may be employed as target points and the appearance be giventhereto when an eye is struck as though it were put out. For the purposeof describing the invention, the drawing shows the target formed withthe face and head of a clown as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. Thus thebody portion 5 is made up of a plate preferably of a configuration toshow the head, cap, and Shoulders of a clown. The ligure is 4providedvwith apertures at 6 which are 'made of a suitable size to formpropertarget bulls-eyes, and

the said apertures form the central ortions of the eyes. About the eyesthe@ gure is provided with an enlarged protecting plate which is shapedto give the remaining appearances necessary for providing eye portionsupon the ligure. S ctacles may also be represented upon the saidprotecting plate around the eyes. The face' portion of the figure isusuallyl somewhat rounded m clearly indicated in Fig. 2 makin the wholeappearance more realistic. The ace may of course be decorated in a'nydesired form and provided with any marks for giving it the appearance ofa clown. l

`ehindv the figure, and just below the apertures 6 a Yprojecting bracketor shelf 8 is mounted and pro'ectin' upwardly through slots 9 formed int e sai shelf are burners 10. The said burners 10 ,are preferablyordinaryA gas jets and usually branch from a gas fed pipe as 11.I Theburners 10 project just farA enough through the apertures 9 to bring theflames of the gas jets when they are lighted, immediately behind the eyeapertures 6. In the use of the target the lights are kept continuouslyburning so that there is a jetbehind each eye opening at all times. Theeffect of giving the target the appearance of having had its eye put outis accomplished by the use of a rocking baille plate or blind 12 whichis provided with a projecting arm -13 by which it is pivotally securedto a depending projection 14 formed upon the said bracket 8. Theprojecting arm 13 extends through a slot in the -said bracket 8 so thatits lower end is pivoted to the said projection 14 a-short distancebelow the upper surface of the bracket 8. The body portion of the baillelate 12 is rovided with inclined under e ges as 15 w ich are adapted torest upon the said bracket 8 lwhen the baille plate is rocked from oneside .0 1 'matically accomplished by the action of a I the targetthroughthe eye opposite the baf- .ile plate 1 2.v When the baffle plate isswung 'to the lother extreme of its lthen ythe other is givenv theappearance p lmovement the other end. thereof will be moved over the aertures 6 opposite the light upon that si e, the light at the other eyebeing at the saine time exposed again; thus first one eye and of beingput out.

The operation of the baie plate is autolever 16, which is pivoted atl 17u on the bracket 8. The forward end of t e said lever 16 is providedwith bifurcated portion 18, which is adapted to loosely engage a pin 19projecting from the rear face of the baf- 'its pivot le plate 12. Byswinging the lever 16 upon in the baiie plate may be caused tomove romone side ofthe target to the other and back again. The lever 16 isadapted to be operated by the bullets or other projectilesl which passthrough the e e'apertures, the s'aid lever being provi ed with laterallyprojecting actuating arms 20 for this purpose. The arms 2O projectoppositely rom the rear end of the lever 16 and kfrom a point to therear of its pivot point .17 as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The said arms donot extend quite at right angles to the bod -position of the lever 16,but at a f slightly o tuse angle with. respect thereto and thus one arm20 is 'adapted to be swung into alinement with one aperture 6 upon oneside of the target, while the other arm will be swung out of the rangeof the apertura on the other side of the target as clearly indicated inFig. 2. As shown by the arrow in said Fig. 2 a projectile passingthrough the open eye ofthe target will strike one of the arms 20. Indoing so it will operate to swing the lever 16 to the osition indicatedin readiness for actuation by the next successful bullet. The eyes ofthe target may thusbe successively put out, to all appearances, and one4eye of the target will always be ready to be put out. The mechanism is Yabsolutelyautomatic in its operation, and

does not require an attention on the part of an attendant. Tl'ie pivotalmount-ing of the baiileplate 12 as already intimated, is such as tocause the parts to always seek the extremities of their movement.

- By the use of the strengthening plate 7 the target is reinforced1 andstrengthened. at

the pointwhere the projectiles are most 'or injure persons.

likely to strike. A continued striking of the target with bullets orlike projectiles .soon causes a pitting of the surface which isobjectionable and in fact is sometimes liable to produce harmful resultssince the lead of the bullets in striking a pitted plate will frequentlyfly great distances and wound After a target has become thus pitted ithas to be discarded. In the target constructed as described and inaccordance with the present invention, the

plate 7 is the only portion which is liable to become pitted and it canbe removed and replaced from time to time without having to'discard orthrow away the rest of the target mechanism. To facilitate theremovaland replacement of the said plate, itis secured to the targetby means ofscrews 21. In using the target the plate 7 constituting the portionabout the eyes which are the bulls-eyes of the target, is usuallypainted in the morning and generally needs no further attention duringvthe day. The paint however becomes knocked ott so that frequent paintingis generally resorted to. As soon as the plate 7 shows any evidence ofbecoming pitted it is removed and a new plate put in its place. The saidplate 7 is generally made of cast met-al which is very hard and is theonly portion of the target which need to be formed of such hardsubstance.

.It will be observed that the mechanism is simple in structure and thatit can be applied to any desired target or conguration and may beadapted to the eyes of any kind of figures.

What I claim is:

1. A ,target having separated aperturestherein and an automaticallyoperating blind common to said apertures and arranged adjacent theretoand capable of closin each aperture successively.

2. i target comprising a body having a plurality of 'apertures ormedtherein, a projectile-actuated blind adjacent to said apertures soadapted to close any'of the apertures through which a projectile passes.

3. A target comprising a configuration having apertures formed therein,lights arranged opposite said apertures and a screen adapted to comebetween said lights and apertures byV a projectile passing through anyof them.

4. A target mechanism comprising a iigure having apertured eye portionsformed thereon, a light disposed opposite the apertured portions of saideyes and a rockin screen arranged between the light and sai f aperturesand means adapted to bestruck by a projectile to cause said screen tohide the light in either eye.

5.` A target comprising a figure having eyes forme lights arrangedimmediately behind the said ortion thereon with central apertures,

operated lever for throwing the said bailleA plate from one side to theother.

6. A target comprising a ligure having eye portions formed withapertures therein, a lighting device arranged adjacent to the figure andhaving' jets extending opposite the apertures of the eyes, a bracketmounted upon the figure, a rocking baille plate carried thereby andadapted to rock 0pposite one eye or the other according to the side ofits pivotal point to which it is moved, a pinl projecting from the saidbaille late, a lever pivotallyr mounted on the brac et and 'having aforked end loosely en aging said pin, laterally projecting projecti eengagin arms carried by the said lever and arrange4 to come oppositefirst one aperture and then the other of the eyes, the action of aprojectile upon the arm opposite an o en eye being such as to throw thebaille p ate be- Y tween that eye and the jet behind it, for indicatingthat the eye has been put out.

7. A target mechanism, I comprising a shield portion having theconfiguration 4of a face formed thereon, and having apertures at the ees, a removable reinforcing plate surrbun 'ng said eye apertures andprojecting the target at that point, means' for maintaining light behindthe said apertures, a rocking light hiding plate mounted behind theapertures and arranged to rock above its pivotal points, .whereby itsend portions will always rest opposite one of the apertures, and-abullet actuated lever engaging said baille plate and adapted to rock itfrom one side to the other when a projectile passes through one of theeyes.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I' have hereunto subscribed myname this 29th .day of May, 1911.

JN O. DICKMAN.

Witnesses:

E. A.' Sumner, EARL'E R. PoLLAm).

